


A Birthday Surprise

by notjustmom



Series: John and Sherlock's Excellent Adventure [7]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: M/M, birthday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 06:16:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9308915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustmom/pseuds/notjustmom
Summary: Since καρδιά μου is having a birthday on Sunday, yes, same day our hearts will be...something... I thought I'd spoil her a bit for a couple of days...here are our Greek boys, set twenty years after Much Ado About Nothing...Alex has indeed become φημισμένος (famous) and returns to their island to wish Sherlock a Happy Birthday.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scrub456](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrub456/gifts).
  * Inspired by [John and Sherlock's Excellent Adventure](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7258249) by [notjustmom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustmom/pseuds/notjustmom), [scrub456](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrub456/pseuds/scrub456). 



John had left a bowl of cherries, a cup of tea and a note on the kitchen table for him.

 

Happy Birthday, my love. Be back soon.

 

Oh. Sherlock had forgotten. Since they had lived on the island, now some twenty odd years, his relationship with time had become non-existent. They went to bed when they were tired, got out of bed when they were hungry, or needed the loo, or needed to go into the village for supplies or lunch or to help Ioanna with repairs or just to have a chat. But he had no need of a calendar...he sighed. He supposed he'd have to Skype with Molly, she and Greg were the last London holdouts; Myc and Vi and Lily had been here since Myc took early retirement after...well. Best not think on that. Andy and Donovan and their girls lived next door to Ioanna during the winter months; she had become the mother neither of them had ever had. He dreaded the time when...damn.

Birthday. Happy thoughts. Right. He stood in the doorway drinking his tea and watched the clouds roll in. He took in a deep breath and sighed. Storms were coming, but there was something else, something else was on its way. 

 

John waved to Andy and turned towards home. He looked up at the darkening skies and groaned, "Not again. What is it about Sherlock's birthday that brings the storms?" He shook his head and recalled the story that Mycroft had told him, of the day his brother was born. 

"A tornado."

Sherlock huffed into his glass. "Surely, you exaggerate."

"You can look it up. At the moment you were born. In the middle of a sunny January day, which was strange in itself, a strong wind blew out the windows of Parliament. They called it a tornado, but I knew it was just due to the arrival of a force that even Mother Nature had no answer for. It was the first, though certainly not the last time that my brother would put a dent in the Queen's coffers." Mycroft winked at his brother and raised his glass. "Many happy returns, brother mine."

John shook his head as the rains began. "Come on, then, let's get you home." He talked to the shivering ball of fur that he had wrapped up warmly in his coat. "Just a few minutes, and we'll have a good fire going, Hopefully Sherlock has the candles out, just in case."

 

Sherlock put on Alex's newest CD. It reminded him of that first winter, the first violin he had placed into the boy's eager, trembling hands. It was a simple composition at first, gradually building into something rich, layered, yet still innocent somehow. It had been a couple of years since the boys had been able to make it home, but the new CD had made it in time for his birthday, with a note sending love and regrets he and Niko were unable to be there for his big celebration.

Big celebration? Hmmm...how old am I now...oh. OH. Damn. How the hell did that happen? 70. Seventy years old, which meant that John was somehow almost 72. He put his tea down and walked outside, definitely something arriving today...

 

"Alex? Niko? I thought -" John smiled broadly as the two young men embraced him together. Ever since he had known the 'boys' they were never far apart.

"I, we, couldn't -" Alex began.

"miss his party. We wanted to surprise him." Niko finished. "I bet he doesn't even remember -"

"how old he is. Does he?" Alex grinned, then stopped as he heard a whine come from John's coat. "Andy's dog had puppies?"

"Six weeks ago. Sherlock spent hours playing with them, but then he got that nasty cold he always gets when the weather changes, and he was too tired to walk over to play with them. Put him in a royal strop."

"How is he?" Alex asked, seriously, but kindly.

"He's fine, truly, just misses you boys and feels the pains a bit more than he used to."

"He still plays?" Alex's voice became hushed and worried.

"Of course, he does, but he has missed playing with you; he will be so pleased to hear you play in person. It's been a long time."

"I know. I have a bit of a surprise for him, a bit of a birthday present."

John's eyes looked him over and his heart leapt."You mean?" John whispered.

Alex's eyes danced. "Mhmm, it's time to come home, γιατρός John. He was right, all those years ago. Being famous is okay, but home is where my heart belongs."


	2. Chapter 2

Sherlock watched the sky change. In all their years here, he never grew tired of the infinite variety of colours, even on a stormy day. He knew he hadn't truly noticed the sky until he met John; John taught him so much, gave him everything, and he wondered sometimes if the life they shared had been enough for him.

"Sherlock, love?" He looked up to see John standing over him. "You should be inside. You just got over that cold, and -"

He blinked at John and at the two figures who knelt down in front of him, in the rain drenched sand. "Alex? Niko? But -"

"You think we'd miss your party?" Alex wrapped his friend and teacher in his arms and was surprised to hear a sob. "Sherlock?"

"Sorry. I. Boys, come in, come in please." Niko offered Sherlock his hand and gently helped him to his feet before kissing his cheeks and embracing him.

Sherlock shook his head and blew out a shaky breath. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you. I was just thinking of the day I gave you your first violin."

Alex grinned. "I'll never forget that day. I felt like a king. Come, let us make you some tea."

"And then?" Sherlock smiled shyly at his young friend.

"And then we shall play, yes?"

"I'd like that very much."

Sherlock opened the door to find the smallest from the latest litter of Andy's Bella sitting in John's lap. He had held this pup in his large hands and helped feed her from a bottle as her siblings outmuscled her away from their mother. She had given him something to look forward to each day, even on those days when the nightmares kept him from sleeping, and then he got the cold that always kept him in bed for at least a week -

"καρδιά μου?" Sherlock whispered as he knelt down carefully in front of his husband.

"I thought it was time, love."

"How well you know me, John."

John looked into Sherlock's bright eyes and shook his head. "You do know you are all I have ever wanted or needed, yes?"

Sherlock fought back the tears that had been threatening all morning, and bit his lip before he spoke. "I sometimes wonder, if you ever regretted -"

"Never. Sherlock, you are my everything. My heart, my reason, love. Happy Birthday. Now, what shall we name her?"

"Joy. Her name is Joy."


	3. Chapter 3

Sherlock put his instrument away and kissed John lightly on the top of his head. Joy had curled up in John's lap and snoozed contentedly with him as Sherlock and the boys chatted and played away the morning.

"John, καρδιά μου? Come to bed, love."

John blinked up at his husband. "A good birthday so far, then?"

"A very good birthday, John." Sherlock picked up Joy and cradled her against his chest, then offered John his hand. "We should rest, the party begins tonight, and we aren't as young as we used to be."

John laid down next to Sherlock, and they grinned as Joy tucked herself between them and went back to sleep. 

"What?" John looked into Sherlock's eyes, the same eyes that smiled at him through tears the day they met so long ago, the same eyes that crinkled at him when they made their vows, and found a question.

"Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if we had never met?"

John kissed the little nose crinkle that appeared when his husband was overthinking something and shook his head. "No, love, because I would always find you. Maybe not as children, but we would always meet, and always, always, our hearts would know. Now, rest, καρδιά μου."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece is for my lovely writing partner, who knows my heart, even though we've never met, in celebration of her birthday. Without Mofftiss and Ben and Martin(and the entire lovely cast), and of course ACD, our hearts would not have met, so this is a thank you to them for the gifts they have given us for the last 6+ years. And thank you, lovely readers for loving the boys as much as we do. xoxox


End file.
